
His people today as He did in the time
when Christ gave the parable of the vine-
yard.
3. The Greatest Sin Is to Reject Christ.
When the husbandmen rejected the son of
the householder they had reached the cli-
max of their sinning. God could do no more
for them and could expect nothing more
from them. How are we treating the only-
begotten Son of God today? Do we heed
the pleas of His Spirit? Do we seek to
bear fruit to His glory? Are we rejecting
Him by outright disobedience or by luke-
warm indifference? To everyone comes
the compelling question, "What shall I do
then with Jesus which is called Christ ?"
4.
The Gospel a Spiritual Feast.
The gos-
pel is a feast of abundant spiritual provi-
sions. The psalmist, thinking of this, ex-
claimed, "0 taste and see that the Lord is
good." Ps. 34:8.
5.
Rejection of Gospel Invitation Means
Eternal Loss.
As in the parable of the vine-
yard, men's rejection of the Son led to the
Lord's rejection of the wicked husband-
men, so in the parable of the great supper,
the virtual rejection of the invitation led
to the eternal loss of those who made their
trivial excuses. Thus our decisions may
have eternal import for weal or woe.
THE LESSON
what did He justly expect? What did
He find instead? Isa. 5:1-4.
Introduction
A
Spiritual Banquet Set Before Us:
"The
spiritual banquet has been set before us in
rich abundance. We have had presented to
us by the messengers of God the richest
feast,—the righteousness of Christ, justifi-
cation by faith, the exceeding great and
precious promises of God• in His word, free
access to the Father by Jesus Christ, the
comforts of the Holy Spirit, and well-
grounded assurance of eternal life in the
kingdom of God. We ask, What could God
do for us that He has not done in pre-
paring the great supper, the heavenly ban-
quet? ... If men, plunged in sin and degrada-
tion, refuse these heavenly benefits, refuse
a life of obedience, scorn the gracious in-
vitation of mercy, and choose the paltry
things of earth, Christ will carry out the
figure used in the parable. Such will not
taste of His glory, but the invitation will
be extended to another class. Those who
choose to make excuses, and continue in
sin and conformity to the world, will be
left to their idols."—Ellen G. White,
Re-
view and Herald, Jan. 17,
1899.
The Vineyard of the Lord
1. In order to impress the Jewish
leaders that they had special privi-
leges, what familiar Old Testament
illustration did Jesus use? Matt. 21:33.
NorE.—Here the prophet Isaiah declares
that "the vineyard of the Lord of hosts is
the house of Israel." He describes in de-
tail how God had planted a vineyard in a
fruitful hill, fenced it, gathered out the
stones, planted the choicest vine, built a
tower and a wine press and then "looked
that it should bring forth grapes, and it
brought forth wild grapes." He then ex-
claimed, "What could have been done more
to my vineyard ?" In Isaiah's day rebel-
lion among God's chosen people was well
on its way. In Christ's day it had come
to a climax in the rejection of Christ Him-
self, the Son of the Householder.
The Householder Disappointed
3.
How were the householder's
servants treated when he sent them to
receive the fruits of the vineyard?
Matt. 21:34-36.
4.
When the householder saw how
the husbandmen treated his servants,
what did he do and say? Matt. 21:37.
2. As a result of God's bounteous
Nora.—"Having yet therefore one son,
care and demonstrated love for Israel,
his well-beloved,
he sent him also last unto
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